Forwarding a challenging task: Seven elements for capacity development for disaster risk reduction

Capacity development for disaster risk reduction is an important process to substantially reduce disaster losses, which threaten sustainable development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. This paper presents seven elements for capacity development for disaster risk reduction that has been applied in practise with noteworthy results. The seven elements are: (1) Terminology, (2) Local context, (3) Ownership, (4) Capacity assessment, (5) Roles and responsibilities, (6) Mix of activities, and (7) Monitoring, evaluation and learning. Although this set of elements should not be seen as a comprehensive methodology in itself, the seven elements for capacity development for disaster risk reduction still highlight vital aspects and seem to be a both conceptually and pragmatically interesting path to follow for increasing the impact and sustainability of projects

Challenging disparities in capacity development for disaster risk reduction

Although capacity development has been identified as the means to substantially reduce global disaster losses, it is a challenge for external partners to facilitate the development of sustainable capacities for disaster risk reduction in disaster-prone countries. The purpose of this study is to investigate potential gaps between how leading professionals approach such capacity development and guidelines found in available theory. The analysis of data from thirty-five qualitative semi-structured interviews reveals that there are gaps between theory and practise, as well as between the practitioners, in all seven elements identified in available theory. There is ambiguity regarding terminology, different views about the meaning of local context, ownership and capacity assessment, as well as contradicting opinions of the role and responsibilities of external partners. Focus is on training individuals, while other requisites are often ignored, and there is a general lack of understanding of what results to assess and how to monitor and evaluate projects

A Verified Certificate Checker for Finite-Precision Error Bounds in Coq and HOL4

Being able to soundly estimate roundoff errors of finite-precision computations is important for many applications in embedded systems and scientific computing. Due to the discrepancy between continuous reals and discrete finite-precision values, automated static analysis tools are highly valuable to estimate roundoff errors. The results, however, are only as correct as the implementations of the static analysis tools. This paper presents a formally verified and modular tool which fully automatically checks the correctness of finite-precision roundoff error bounds encoded in a certificate. We present implementations of certificate generation and checking for both Coq and HOL4 and evaluate it on a number of examples from the literature. The experiments use both in-logic evaluation of Coq and HOL4, and execution of extracted code outside of the logics: we benchmark Coq extracted unverified OCaml code and a CakeML-generated verified binary

Parallel structures for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in Southern Africa

During the last decade, the interest of the international community in the concepts of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation has been growing immensely. Even though an increasing number of scholars seem to view these concepts as two sides of the same coin (at least when not considering the potentially positive effects of climate change), in practice the two concepts have developed in parallel rather than in an integrated manner when it comes to policy, rhetoric and funding opportunities amongst international organisations and donors. This study investigates the extent of the creation of parallel structures for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. The chosen methodology for the study is a comparative case study and the data are collected through focus groups and content analysis of documentary sources, as well as interviews with key informants. The results indicate that parallel structures for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation have been established in all but one of the studied countries. The qualitative interviews performed in some of the countries indicate that stakeholders in disaster risk reduction view this duplication of structures as unfortunate, inefficient and a fertile setup for conflict over resources for the implementation of similar activities. Additional research is called for in order to study the concrete effects of having these parallel structures as a foundation for advocacy for more efficient future disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation

Модернизация системы очистки дымовых газов на Аксукской теплоэлектростанции АО «Евроазиатская Корпорация»

Выпускная квалификационная работа на тему «Анализ природоохранной деятельности Аксукской теплоэлектростанции АО «Евроазиатская Энергетическая Корпорация» и реконструкция системы очистки дымовых газов на первом энергоблоке котлотурбинного цеха» состоит из текстового документа, выполненного на 108 с. Текстовый документ содержит 9 рисунков, 13 таблиц, 4 схемы, список используемой литературы из 49 наименований.Final qualification work on topic "the Analysis of the environmental activities Aksusskiy heat and power plant JSC "Eurasian Energy Corporation" and the reconstruction of the flue gas cleaning system on the first unit's boiler and turbine shop" consists of a text document is made of 108 S. Text document contains 9 figures, 13 tables, 4 charts, bibliography of 49 items

Accuracy of five algorithms to diagnose gambiense human African trypanosomiasis.

Algorithms to diagnose gambiense human African trypanosomiasis (HAT, sleeping sickness) are often complex due to the unsatisfactory sensitivity and/or specificity of available tests, and typically include a screening (serological), confirmation (parasitological) and staging component. There is insufficient evidence on the relative accuracy of these algorithms. This paper presents estimates of the accuracy of five algorithms used by past Médecins Sans Frontières programmes in the Republic of Congo, Southern Sudan and Uganda

Persistently Altered Brain Mitochondrial Bioenergetics After Apparently Successful Resuscitation From Cardiac Arrest

Background Although advances in cardiopulmonary resuscitation have improved survival from cardiac arrest (CA), neurologic injury persists and impaired mitochondrial bioenergetics may be critical for targeted neuroresuscitation. The authors sought to determine if excellent cardiopulmonary resuscitation and postresuscitation care and good traditional survival rates result in persistently disordered cerebral mitochondrial bioenergetics in a porcine pediatric model of asphyxia‐associated ventricular fibrillation CA. Methods and Results After 7 minutes of asphyxia, followed by ventricular fibrillation, 5 female 1‐month‐old swine (4 sham) received blood pressure–targeted care: titration of compression depth to systolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg and vasopressor administration to a coronary perfusion pressure \u3e20 mm Hg. All animals received protocol‐based vasopressor support after return of spontaneous circulation for 4 hours before they were killed. The primary outcome was integrated mitochondrial electron transport system (ETS) function. CA animals displayed significantly decreased maximal, coupled oxidative phosphorylating respiration (OXPHOSCI+CII) in cortex (PPPPCI PCII PCIPCII PCI+CII), as well as a 30% reduction in citrate synthase activity (P\u3c0.04). Conclusions Mitochondria in both the cortex and hippocampus displayed significant alterations in respiratory function after CA despite excellent cardiopulmonary resuscitation and postresuscitation care in asphyxia‐associated ventricular fibrillation CA. Analysis of integrated ETS function identifies mitochondrial bioenergetic failure as a target for goal‐directed neuroresuscitation after CA. IACUC Protocol: IAC 13‐001023

Antithrombotic Treatment in Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Insights for Cerebrovascular and Bleeding Events

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) has emerged as a therapeutic alternative for patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis at high or prohibitive surgical risk. However, patients undergoing TAVI are also at high risk for both bleeding and stroke complications, and specific mechanical aspects of the procedure itself can increase the risk of these complications. The mechanisms of periprocedural bleeding complications seem to relate mainly to vascular/access site complications (related to the use of large catheters in a very old and frail elderly population), whereas the pathophysiology of cerebrovascular events remains largely unknown. Further, although mechanical complications, especially the interaction between the valve prosthesis and the native aortic valve, may play a major role in events that occur during TAVI, post-procedural events might also be related to a prothrombotic environment or state generated by the implanted valve, the occurrence of atrial arrhythmias, and associated comorbidities. Antithrombotic therapy in the setting of TAVI has been empirically determined, and unfractionated heparin during the procedure followed by dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin (indefinitely) and clopidogrel (1 to 6 months) is the most commonly recommended treatment. However, bleeding and cerebrovascular events are common; these may be modifiable with optimization of periprocedural and post-procedural pharmacology. Further, as the field of antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy evolves, potential drug combinations will multiply, introducing variability in treatment. Randomized trials are the best path forward to determine the balance between the efficacy and risks of antithrombotic treatment in this high risk-population